Superstar Sleeze Posted October 4, 2020 Report Share Posted October 4, 2020 I didnt watch wrestling until 1997, so no nostalgia for me for the 80s or early 90s which I still love for their angles, characters and promos. 100% agree with you on the second paragraph. How many times did Flair or Dusty go over 5 minutes in the 80s? Never. People are going WAAAAAAAAYYYY too long. 5 minutes tops. Get in, get out. Face to face promos should be used sparingly. 2-5 minutes with an interview even to open the show should be the standard. Pro wrestlers arent trained actors. There are naturals like Rock and Dusty that are just so awesomely charismatic they cannot be denied. Other than that, stick to what people know which is their own personalities. I would interview each wrestler find out their life experiences, find out their personality and craft a character around that. Put these people in a position to succeed rather than them trying to pretend to be someone they are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted October 4, 2020 Report Share Posted October 4, 2020 I guess you have to grade wrestling acting on a curve. Lana was doing some of the worst stuff I've ever seen so it's hardly a flattering comparison. In terms of soapy drama, I guess Bliss and Bray are doing slightly better than Seth and Aliyah Mysterio. I've no problem with soapy stuff - Otis/Mandy was good while it lasted - but WWE's execution of it most of the time is the dirt worst. Alexa's had moments in the past where she did the character stuff great and she hits a better sister Abigale than Bray does. That KO segment though? All the staring into space? Hilariously bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted October 4, 2020 Report Share Posted October 4, 2020 Not to mention it makes KO look stupid for putting himself in place for what should have been an obvious trap, especially since his character in particular tends to call those out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted October 4, 2020 Report Share Posted October 4, 2020 I haven't watched all of the Bliss/Bray storyline so I can't judge every segment. What I will say is this - I've generally enjoyed Alexa's transformation and involvement and I think know why. To take a slight detour, I watched Backlash 2005 this week for the first time ever and reviewed it on my blog. One of the storylines in the lead-up to the show was that Viscera was trying to sleep with Trish Stratus and they had formed an uneasy partnership to try to take out Kane and Lita. I'm not sure who was face or who was heel in that feud (by this point, Lita was getting booed out of buildings for cheating on Matt Hardy IRL but Trish's actions suggest she was also a heel?), and it doesn't really matter in this case. What was noticeable in Trish and Viscera's segments together was that Trish made it work. The storyline was not clever or original or particularly well-written, but her innate charisma and ability to play off Viscera, not exactly a guy known for being a great promo or character, made it passable. In fact, when Viscera ends up ragdolling Trish later in the show, its actually kinda great and entertaining despite being such a trashy development in a story that is already in the gutter (I mean, at one point, Trish even makes a straight-up racist comment about Vis' supposed love of chicken). We saw this time and time again with Stratus, though. Was she a great actress? No, not really. But realism isn't necessarily always the best measure of a talent's ability to get a story over. With Bliss, I find the same thing to be true and, from what I have seen, this is the case with her current storyline. Its not so much that her acting is giving this storyline depth or realism, its that she's naturally charismatic enough to pretty much carry any segment or role they put her in. She has "It." She has chemistry with any performer you put her in the ring or in a segment with. I'm not going to say every segment or angle she's ever done has been a home run, but she made Braun Strowman interesting at times and her feud with Nia Jax was great too. The ability to pull D- programming to C+ level is something not every performer can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted October 4, 2020 Report Share Posted October 4, 2020 Alexa Bliss gets graded on a different scale because she's so attractive. Just like Trish Stratus used to get. There were even a few odd people that claimed Trish Stratus was the best woman worker in the world at one point. Hyperbole at its best but I mean, what can you do? You can't tell someone their opinion is wrong, really. It might not be that big of a thing here, but if you read other wrestling corners of the internet, it's vary apparent - not just Twitter "Stans" but wrestling fans as a whole appear to be quite the horndogs. So Alexa Bliss wearing pigtails, acting "spacey" & channeling some Harleyquinn, is definitely some sort of fetishizing cosplay shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted October 4, 2020 Report Share Posted October 4, 2020 Yes and no. Yes, Alexa is obviously a very attractive female and that beauty definitely doesn't hurt her. There's no argument there. But Paige was/is also super attractive and couldn't make any of her various roles work since returning to the company. Charlotte Flair is attractive, has the "pedigree," and has been positioned as the top female worker in the company. She still couldn't get over as a babyface no matter how hard they tried. Lana could only do one thing - Rusev's evil Russian manager. Any other role? Pretty much woeful. Nikki Bella and Brie Bella are gorgeous, but Brie was not good in the ring and not much better in the promo/acting department. Nikki eventually became pretty good in the ring (or at least had made huge improvements in her last few years) but, yeah, on her best day, she still couldn't touch Alexa in the promo department. Even at her peak, Nikki couldn't "own the stage" the way Alexa has. And the list goes on of beautiful, beautiful women - Stacy Keibler, Kelly Kelly, Torrie Wilson, Sable - who didn't have the versatility of Alexa Bliss, who couldn't get over as a babyface and a heel, who couldn't be taken seriously as a wrestler and manager. So, yes and no. Yes, she's gorgeous and that undoubtedly helps her get her character over, makes her even more popular, etc. But, no, if it was all about looks, if it was all just her appearance, she wouldn't be so successful in multiple roles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 3 hours ago, DMJ said: Lana could only do one thing - Rusev's evil Russian manager. Any other role? Pretty much woeful. She actually has a Hollywood career though, so I blame that on WWE, not Lana. I still say Lana made the most of that horrific Lashley storyline and going as over-the-top as she did was the only way to play it. Was it good? No. But it would've been even worse if she wasn't trying to chew the scenery. Serious acting would not have helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 The problem is she did NOT go over the top! I love over the top acting. I love trashy TV. Lana would not draw shit on Bachelor in Paradise and everyone in Daytime could act circles around her. She was so wooden. Playing a Bridezilla should literally be the easiest thing in the world and she couldn’t even do that. She came off as apathetic and listless. She screamed without emotion HOW DO YOU DO THAT? The BOAT shit is bad right now with Nattie BUT if you give that Santino or someone like that he could have gotten it over. Lana has really lame delivery is the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 7 minutes ago, Superstar Sleeze said: The problem is she did NOT go over the top! I love over the top acting. I love trashy TV. Lana would not draw shit on Bachelor in Paradise and everyone in Daytime could act circles around her. She was so wooden. Playing a Bridezilla should literally be the easiest thing in the world and she couldn’t even do that. She came off as apathetic and listless. She screamed without emotion HOW DO YOU DO THAT? The BOAT shit is bad right now with Nattie BUT if you give that Santino or someone like that he could have gotten it over. Lana has really lame delivery is the issue. I agree with this. The problem was not that she was hammy or over the top. The problem was that she was terrible at expressing any kind of emotion. I don't think I have seen her express any genuine emotion apart from "Fucking Americans!!' Which, no offense to you all Americans here, does not take a lot of effort from any of us foreigners. I associate going over the top with how prime heel Mr. McMahon would react to Stone Cold Steve Austin fucking his happiness. And it used to be awesome every time. Now, of course, Vince is a once-in-a-generation performer, but my point is being over the top is actually good in wrestling when you are executing angles resembling soap operas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted October 5, 2020 Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 Keep in mind that CJ Perry is a trained actress, so she's actually on the high end of the roster when it comes to acting ability. If she doesn't possess the range necessary to pull off a soap opera angle, virtually anyone else in the company would be even worse. It's for that reason that soap opera storylines in wrestling are almost always a disaster. If wrestlers could act, they'd be in Hollywood, not pro wrestling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted October 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2020 She was making her own promos on YouTube after Becky took her spot at the Rumble. No WWE directing, no WWE script, it was only CJ Lana Perry and her thoughts, left to her own devices. Those skits were pretty much even worse than her usual WWE skits - actually the Fed's script played more to her strengths - , so to say that she's "a trained actress" doesn't really mean much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.